CHAPTER 10

It wasn't so cold anymore. In fact, she was even a bit sweaty, Maka realised, trying to shift under the blanket and stretch her numbed muscles. For some reason she couldn't, though. The meister opened her eyes slowly, wanting to discover what the impediment was. A single candle bud was still lit, casting a pale, flickering glow around the small room, and beside her Kid was still sleeping, peacefully. Actually, 'beside' was improperly said – he was more like lying half on top of her, his right arm draped casually over her bare chest and fingers lightly resting onto her shoulder.

Shit! Oh, by Death, I hope he didn't wake up sometime during the night and realised… Maka thought, mortified at the idea. Ever so carefully the blonde pushed his hand aside and slipped out of bed, rapidly diving to collect her dress from where it was lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. It was still slightly damp, but it didn't matter, she slid it on and quickly buttoned it up, throwing the spare cloak over it. It must have been very early in the morning - she knew she must have woken up before the bell this time, just as the Older One had warned. Soundlessly, Maka slipped out of the room.

Outside it was barely dawning, the sky fading to a paler shade of dark blue. It was still quite cold, but the air was still for a change. Maka took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air – spring, an actual spring was coming, for a wild smell of herbs wafted in the air and the scattered bits of vegetation were more visible now among the steep, grey rocks surrounding the courtyard. But the thought brought the blonde no joy, instead filled her with sadness and even dismay. Almost one year had passed already since they'd found themselves in this place, in this prison. One year!

The meister breathed again, willing away the unshed tears as she sped towards the habitations area. In the kitchens the Sisters on duty that day were already at work, as usual under the surveillance of the Older One. Maka remembered what Kid had told her briefly about Brother Elgar - that he wasn't human. Not anymore, that's what he said… Why 'not anymore'? What had he meant by that? Her gaze darted towards the Older One as she waited patiently for the food to be ready, examining him curiously. Under the ragged hood what was visible of his face was dry like parchment and bore an unhealthy yellowish shade. His eyes were of a dark, undistinguishable color, but they looked human. Unlike Brother Elgar, his fingers were thick and blunt, with short and dirty nails, not talons. Perhaps this one was still human? Maka couldn't help remembering (and inwardly shuddering at the memory) of how resilient the other Brother had been to her attacks, as if he could feel no pain and his muscles were wrought in iron. If she thought of it, the Older One seemed to be a rather difficult opponent to take on too. The meister wondered if he had a soul, that would have been a definitive proof pro or against any assumption, but she'd blocked her soul perception and did not dare to use it again yet. And unfortunately her observation of him did not go unnoticed by the head Brother.

"Maka," he suddenly spoke, just as the blonde had started to fill a tray of food. Her breath hitched in her throat and she was grateful that the black veil shadowed her face.

"Yes…?"

The Older One drew closer as the meister had resumed arranging the plates and picking cutlery, stopping right next to her. "How is your husband treating you?" he asked, and she could guess nothing from his tone. Yet she froze anyway, setting the tray back slowly onto the table for fear of dropping it. Why did he want to know? It certainly wasn't like he cared! But he must have seen the 'bruise' on her cheek the previous day, when by the way she'd blown it even worse since she'd forgotten about Kid's breakfast. And now he'd probably expected to see more bruises, which weren't there. Shit! By Death, this is bad!

"Fine…" she muttered almost inaudibly, avoiding the Older One's gaze and hoping he'd inquire no further, letting her leave. But the man didn't budge.

"Why are you wearing his cloak? Did you steal it?" His tone had grown harsh and threatening all the sudden, he was almost shouting. "How dare you wear this garment, you wretched creature?!"

Maka gulped, bowing her head even lower and sure that the man was going to hit her any moment now. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! What the hell was I thinking? But he didn't, instead he seemed to be waiting for an answer. Even worse! "H-he said I look much too sickly and thin and ordered me t-to… to eat more and wear this… I-it has a s-stain on it and h-he wouldn't wear it anymore…" the blonde stuttered horribly, choked by terror and deep down knowing that she probably shouldn't have said that.

The Older One assessed her thoughtfully for a moment. "Is that so…?" The question was followed by a disdainful snort as he finally stepped away from her. Maka squeezed her eyes shut, unable to repress a shudder at the thought that most likely now she'd gotten Kid into trouble with this uninspired lie. But what was she supposed to say?

"Don't think a Death God would care for you, foolish girl," he added in a lower voice. "You're nothing more than a mere pet, that until he gets bored with you"

A soft whimper escaped Maka's lips at his words. What exactly was he suggesting? Were they expecting Kid to simply dispose of her after a while, when he - as the Older One had put it - 'got bored'?

"You've no one but yourself to blame for this, you know. I've been told about how you looked at him. Most likely he wouldn't have noticed and asked for you otherwise…"

The blonde placed the tray on the table and threw a wary glance towards the bed. The morning bell had already rung when she was on her way back from the kitchens, but Kid was still asleep.

Damn, this can't be good! Maka didn't know what to do. He was resilient, she told herself, but he had drunk God knew how much of that poison… so he probably needed more rest to recover fully. But then again, she didn't think that skipping work, even for a few hours, was in anyway acceptable. I have to wake him up, I have no choice…

The meister kneeled down onto her side of the bed and reached out for his shoulder, resisting the sudden temptation to brush his hair away from his forehead again. Somewhere in the back of her mind Maka couldn't stop being awed at how close they'd become in such a very short time, at least physically. Hell, she'd never shared a bed with a boy before at all, let alone with this little clothing on. The blonde could feel her cheeks beginning to burn as the thought crept on her again.

"Hey! Kid, you must wake up, it's late!" she said softly, shaking his shoulder and instantly rewarded with a groan. The young reaper sat up abruptly, holding his head in his hands for a moment, then slipped out of bed in the blink of an eye.

"Ah, damn it!" he muttered, running a hand through his ruffled strands and glancing down morosely at his creased shirt. But all the trouble was immediately fixed with a simple smoothing motion of his hand. Bah, not fair! Maka thought petulantly, why did he always have to look so neat? Unlike me…

"Um… hey," Kid said, a bit shyly. "I'm sorry I overslept…"

"A very good morning to you too," Maka couldn't help it. "I managed to bring breakfast this time," she added, sitting on the edge of the bed and picking up a plate demonstratively.

"Oh… right. Good morning… Sorry, I don't know what's with me…" the shinigami mumbled apologetically, sliding his suit jacket on and throwing a black cloak over it. "And yes, you should eat. Y-you still look quite pale," he said, wrapping the tasseled cloak around him sort of defensively as he eyed the food.

Oh hell, here we go again, the blonde meister realised, he doesn't want to eat! "Kid, please sit down," she said calmly, patting the place next to her, and rather to her surprise the reaper obeyed, but he still looked reluctant. "Here," she added, handing him the plate she'd prepared especially, "I put in two radishes too, see?" Maka tried an encouraging smile."At least I think they're radishes…" she added under her breath.

Kid blinked, positively confused. "Um… and?" he asked cautiously.

"And it looks… symmetrical?" she offered, less and less convinced that her plan would work.

A small, surprised smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he observed the plate. "I don't know what to say, you shouldn't have bothered… thank you…" he said. The young reaper seemed just as puzzled now as when she'd gone to search for his ring. Clearly he wasn't used to people doing things for him, Maka thought. The conclusion saddened her.

"So you will eat now?"

Kid made no move to pick up the plate and the blonde frowned. "But you agreed that it looks symmetrical!" she pointed, annoyed. "And you know that you should eat! Especially after last night!"

"Um…" His hand sneaked discreetly towards his mouth. "Yes, it's a symmetrical crap…"

"Kid, please! Please don't be difficult!" Oh, by Death, he's a handful! she thought, exasperated, and despite herself all the tears she'd held back now came to her eyes and spilled silently down her cheeks before she could hide them.

"Maka!" the shinigami gasped, pulling her into his arms and holding her close as she whimpered softly. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'll eat, okay? Please, forgive me!" His fingers tangled into her hair, caressing gently and the blonde realised that she was trembling. In fact, she'd been trembling ever since she'd left the kitchens. "Hey, are you alright? You're shaking! What happened?" Kid asked softly, running his thumb over her wet cheeks.

"No… actually I had another… encounter with the Older One. He said… well he got very angry that I was wearing your cloak and I had to lie to him and say you made me wear it and then… he said I'm just a pet and you'll get bored with me sooner or later…" she blurted out, aware that she wasn't necessarily making much sense. "He just… it scared me! I don't know what they're expecting of us, I just don't know what's going to happen…" the meister said, pulling away eventually and wiping her face with the back of her hand.

To her relief, Kid finally decided to pick up his plate. "Well, this marriage thing is surely more complicated than I thought. There's clearly more to it than fighting over who should take out the garbage," he observed, taking a mouthful of stew and grimacing.

Maka managed a small laugh. Who knew reapers actually had a sense of humor? Although he didn't seem to be joking… "I have to say, Kid, your vision of marriage isn't exactly romantic"

"I was only talking about the complications part," he defended with a light smile. "I don't suppose the romantic part –where there is one - should be complicated… or at least one can only hope it isn't"

Speaking of which… "Did you sleep well? I was under the impression that you woke up sometimes during the night or something…" she couldn't help asking. For some reason now she also feared that if she didn't tread carefully it might make things awkward between them. Ahead of time, that is… For she was terribly worried about how the whole weapon-meister experiment was going to turn out.

"No, I slept like a rock actually, for once in quite a long time," he replied, for once focusing on his plate and not looking at her.

A vague scowl crept onto the blonde's face. Had he hesitated, just the slightest bit, before answering? He wouldn't lie, would he? Oh, by Death, get a grip on yourself! After all, as long as he didn't say anything… And the warmth had done him good, most likely she would not have to repeat that thing again. He was clearly better and hadn't been coughing anymore so far, he even looked good… or as good as someone who constantly looked as white as a sheet could, at any rate.

"You're right, this isn't going as smoothly as I thought," Kid said with a sigh, abandoning his half-full plate. "They must be keeping an eye on us and there's always the danger that they might get suspicious. We don't have much time left, we will have to do something about it soon. I suppose we'll have to start practicing…"

Practicing… Maka flinched inwardly. She wasn't ready for it, not with what kept happening. And she really needed to pull herself together and focus, think past her fears. What if in the end she couldn't deal with being a mere weapon and not make the decisions? What if they weren't compatible? So many questions spun in the blonde's head, making her dizzy.

"Kid…" Maka began hesitantly. As much as she hated bringing it up, it was important. She couldn't handle him being sick, not when she was helpless like that, not really knowing how to take care of him. "Promise you won't drink any more Black Water. Please, promise me!" Her gaze shot up, searching his eyes as the young shinigami fidgeted a bit, clearly uncomfortable with the subject.

"I promise…"

To be continued